


Ideal, Temperature-Wise

by sanctum_c



Series: Aeris and Cloud Take to the Skies Week 2017 [2]
Category: Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, F/M, Post-Canon, Post-Canon Fix-It, Temperature, World Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-24
Updated: 2017-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:15:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27199054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanctum_c/pseuds/sanctum_c
Summary: Aeris reflects on the temperatures of different places around the Planet and how best to cope with them.
Relationships: Aerith Gainsborough/Cloud Strife
Series: Aeris and Cloud Take to the Skies Week 2017 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1985575
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	Ideal, Temperature-Wise

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the prompt 'Warmth'

There was something about the cold that always attracted Aeris. In some parts of the world the level of warmth was as good an indication as any of when to move onto wherever was next. Her own wanderlust was enough to get her moving whenever she and Cloud strayed more to the colder, Northern regions. But every time they went South, Aeris was reminded that the heat and sun were not for her. She had visited Costa del Sol once, tried sunbathing and found it quickly boring. It was more bearable with something to read; but trying to lie out in the sun with a book only saw her getting hotter and hotter until she could take it no more. Boiling under the intense sun she skipped across burning sand to dive into the ocean for a while. The pool at the hotel might have been better - with almost zero chance of sea-dwelling creatures - but it was not a risk she was willing to take; the rest of that visit was spent in the shade of a beach umbrella and later not venturing outside except during the cooler stages of the day.

Nibelheim was close to ideal temperature-wise. Shame it came with so much baggage for Cloud, to say nothing of an eerie, unshakeable feeling of discomfort. It was safe there – more or less as safe as anywhere – but impossible to ignore the looming, twisted spectre of Mount Nibel. Nor could she overlook how the somehow still-standing Shinra mansion; not only once Vincent and Cloud’s tomb, but also instrumental in the birth of Sephiroth - and all that resulted from Hojo’s experimentions. They were both content to pass through the town as they wandered, thoughts of suggesting a return and rehabilitation of the place gone.

Mideel was amongst her most sought after destinations at first. She was attempting to catch up on the experiences of her companions and it was somewhere entirely new for her to see. But the island's heat pushed her away before long, the voice of the Planet so loud, so clear thanks to the Mako gushing up from the vents in the ocean floor. It did little good besides distracting from her own desires and plans. Still worth the visit; Cloud took pains to seek out the medical team responsible for his rescue and care. They remained the only physicians Aeris had ever known him to trust. Understandable in the circumstances.

Icicle Inn and the far North were enticing for similar reasons; other new locations. So much snow to wade through, even if the novelty of it soon wore off despite the aesthetic effect on the landscape. Cloud had been excited for their first visit together, eager to show her the remains of her mother and father’s home. Pain here too; hard to overlook the bullet holes in the wall, and the unpleasant implications of one of the only remaining images of her father. Again, there had been a notion entertained of reclaiming this space, of undoing years of neglect and Hojo's aggressive actions. Cloud had wanted to at least try and recreate the home she never had. But there was too much pain here, too much to correct. Hojo had tainted this place too. Besides; as much as it was technically once her home, it would never feel the same as the house in Sector Five – or Elmyra’s new home in Kalm.

As with Nibelheim, she and Cloud spent a single night at the inn before moving on. Her sombre dwelling on the past faded as they moved farther North and once more to the unfamiliar. The voice of the Planet grew faint, fainter than even at the heart of Midgar. Few people lived so far past Icicle Inn; the last of them was Mr. Holozoff who still remembered Cloud and his companions from their previous visit to the region. He warmly greeted Aeris and told her of Avalanche's astonishing feat in climbing the cliffs. The reveal of their plan to repeat that feat did not surprise him and he wished them the best of luck. The next day they started climbing. No Sephiroth to pursue, no Shinra to avoid. No reason to scale Gaea's cliffs other than pure curiosity.

The North Crater was so much more than Aeris could ever have imagined. Cloud tried to describe how it had been before Sephiroth took the Black materia from him; the mist-shrouded growths of rock and the fountain of mako at the centre. All gone now, leaving behind nothing but a deep pit, its depths lost in darkness. Once this had been the gate-way to Sephiroth’s domain; now it lay barren, the Planet willing to leave at least this scar unhealed. Even the air was colder now; Cloud commented on how warm the cliff-tops had been when Avalanche began their journey to that final confrontation. So different now, no more than a handful of years later. Aeris shivered and brushed against her companion. That night they curled together in their tent. No matter where they went, Cloud seemed to be the perfect temperature to compliment her own. Aeris wriggled back against him and enjoyed his warmth.


End file.
